Theorizing Imagined Futures from the South: Coloniality, Dependency and Radical Alternatives

The objective of the conference is to theorize about the role of imagined futures in social dynamics from the perspective of the Global South. There is a vibrant theoretical literature on imagined futures and MPI scholars have contributed to our understanding of the significance of uncertainty and credible expectations in capitalist dynamics. Although this work is crucial, it has tended to focus on the Global North and therefore it does not adequately capture capitalism as it is experienced by the majority of the world. The conference aims to address this gap by initiating dialogue between scholars with a theoretical interest in the role of imagined futures and empirical research on Global South countries. The conference is not intended to apply the extant imagined futures theory to “new cases”, but rather to rethink the temporality and future-orientation of capitalism from the vantage point of the South. This perspective would revise the tropes of innovation, growth, and progress associated with capitalism and foreground experiences of imperialism, dependency and stagnation. However, the Global South is not simply characterized by exploitation; it is also a source of utopias and socio-economic alternatives to capitalism. These utopias and proposals for a New International Economic Order (NIEO) are often perceived as failures. Yet new perspectives on these “past futures” might provide crucial insights as we attempt to address the current multidimensional crises of capitalism.